I've been here a couple times over the years for friends' birthday parties, but only recently started coming to bowl in the evenings for fun. They have a Monday/Tuesday/Thursday discount ($5 games, $3 shoes) and Sunday all you can bowl ($30 per person for 2 hours) promo are a great deal, so me and my partner have been coming every week. The employees are really nice and gave me pointers which helped improve my game. I love the sense of community and will continue to come bowl here! read more

My go to Bowling alley when I want to play Bowling. I have been visiting this place for many years. The bowling Alley has exist many years as long as I remember. It was the only bowling alley in this area and huge. It was quite old but they improve here and there. It has many lanes but sometimes when there is competition, you won't be able to get any lane. It charge by hour and in the morning it is cheaper. The price is reasonable. read more

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This alley was really fun! We had a great time. So much so that we extended multiple times were fortunate that they were able to accommodate. The staff is nice, helpful, and genuine. read more

Bel Mateo Bowl - Bowling Near Me - San Mateo, California

Recently came here to celebrate my birthday! Booked my reservation online and there is a $10 fee. The booking and check in process was seamless. When we arrived at 9:30 on a Saturday, we were given our shoes with no wait.. we got two lanes, since we had 10 people. Each lane fits 6 people. They had a good mix of music playing with the names of each song which was nice. The owner was nice and accommodating, letting us bring our boba in, which i appreciated. There was also a small arcade area with Mario kart and two darts in a bar area, which we will definitely be back to try next time. I want to highlight the cleanliness of this place. In the past, I've been to bowling alleys where the bowling balls felt really gross, yaknow the sticky, sweaty feeling... I did not experience it here, which adds a star. read more

Such a good bowling alley - workers here are super nice! Call ahead to make sure there are lanes - but it's normally not too bad unless there's a league. If you go before a certain time, it's only $50 for an hour with shoes included! So worth it! read more

Had a family birthday celebration at Bel Mateo bowl and it was great. As soon as we approached the front desk, we were greeted warmly and told where our lanes were. I love the online reservation system. No more waiting for lanes to open up. I also appreciated the cleanliness and fun and relaxed atmosphere at the bowl. Thank you Bel Mateo and staff for a wonderful experience. Will definitely be back again!!! read more

The bowling was fun. Cosmic lights and the vibe was cool. What I did not like was the bartender. Craig started off as nice but when he gets overwhelmed he kinda turns into a dick slamming cups and making drinks sloppily. The Red bulls used for our drinks was from a can that was already left open on the counter making the drink warmer than it should. He was scooping the ice with the glass cups themselves which is a huge health violation. Should a glass get chipped in the ice while scooping it can be fatal to someone who swallows it. Whomever the bar manager is should be implementing a scoop for the ice. read more

I recently visited Belmateo Bowling and overall it's a nice place with a good atmosphere. The lanes are well maintained and it's a fun spot to hang out with friends or family. However, it's way too overpriced for what you get. On top of that, you can only make reservations online, and they charge a fee just to book, which honestly doesn't make sense. It feels unnecessary and adds to the already high cost. It's a decent experience, but the pricing and extra fees definitely make it hard to justify going regularly. read more

Bel Mateo bowling alley is one of the best I've been to in the area. I was there on a Friday night and karaoke was going on. It was great fun to listen to. I can also say they are one of the cleanest places I've been too. Drinks are reasonably priced also. read more

Bowling's not for me, but I had a good time with my friends here. Okay selection of beer.

Love this bowling alley! We've celebrated our young son's birthday here two years in a row. Staff are very nice and helpful. Our son and his friends have enjoyed their time here on each visit. Extremely family friendly. Love the old school bowl vibe compared to the newer alleys. Highly recommend having your little one's party here, or choosing this place as a fun family friendly day/night activity. They have disco bowling on select nights which we've also enjoyed. read more

Food was good! Can't beat the customer service! atmosphere was very enjoyable! We always have great time!

We've been coming here for New Year's Eve for a couple years now and Laverne at the bar is TOP NOTCH. She is hustling and making drinks like nobody's business. Hard working is her middle name. The bowling is fun, it's standard, our lane had a pin issue but that's not a big deal! We always have fun and we love going to Laverne for our drinks!!!!! Also - the lights they have for NYE are great read more

Bel Mateo Bowl - Bowling Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Service for this lady who was at the shoe desk needs improvement. She was rude and would not break my cash. Her excuse was she just opened and then forced me to use my credit card. Oh yeah there is a credit card surcharge of 6%. Also she said wait there is an atm right there. read more

Bel Mateo Bowl - Bowling Near Me - San Mateo, California

Great bowling alley; clean and welcoming.... Started bowling almost a year ago. Staff has been more than helpful and kind, especially Kim Facilities are very well kept. Thank you for a positive experience all around. read more

The lanes are awesome. It's a small alley but well maintained. I have had nothing but great experiences here. I go for the pro shop (Raymond's the best) but when I have used the lanes I have not been disappointed. read more

Very chill old timey bowling alley that is unassuming on the outside but well-kept on the inside. Many lanes and you can pay per lane by the hour or by game. Several themes to choose from on the game selection screen on the monitor and it lets you take a selfie if you want too. We skipped the selfie step so I can't say how the selfie will be used. read more

Bel Mateo Bowl - Bowling Near Me - San Mateo, California

Classic bowling alley with lots of lanes and great for large groups and for a weekend out that isn't just centered on drinking. Easy to book online and quick service upon arrival. Clean space and restrooms. There are options for food and drinks if you want, but nothing outstanding and the milkshake I had was more watery than I'd like. One the weekends once it hits 9, the light will go dark and the lanes have a fun neon glow and lighting with music making it more exciting. There were a few times when the scoreboard would track a Strike that didn't happen, but we let the desk know about that and they switched us to a different lane right away. read more

All of the above + best veggie burger on the peninsula great staff and always good beer in the bar also Rex is great at helping bowlers if any problems come up and every one is very friendly read more

Old school, local bowling alley. Staff is friendly, helpful, and attentive. While not a huge place, there are plenty of lanes, as well as a small arcade and a kitchen and bar for food and drinks. I like the additional bench for added area to eat and drink. Continue to root for Bel Mateo Bowl to succeed and thrive. read more

I wrote it before and I'll write it again, Bel Mateo Bowl is the best bowling alley in the SF Bay Area! We just held another bowling night (Sun Oct 19, 2025) for our elementary school families and it couldn't have gone any better. Same as last year, we were able to rent-out all 24 lanes, shoes, pizzas, and drinks all for a very reasonable price. The place was clean and the staff was friendly, kind, helpful, and easy to work with. Again, we extend a HUGE THANKS to John, Savannah, and Alissa as our primary hosts, as well as Lavern, Craig, Paul, and more for all their hard work and making our event a success. We will definitely return again soon and we highly recommend you do as well. Thanks again Bel Mateo Bowl friends, you folks are the best! read more

This place is relatively big. It was busy for a Friday night with every lane filled. There was plenty of space and staff were very friendly. We didn't try the food here but got beers. Would come back! read more

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I've been coming to Bel Mateo Bowl, not for the bowling - but for the Karaoke on Friday nights with Super Star Karaoke! Jose and Elena put on a GREAT show!! The sound system they use is clear and Jose knows when to highlight the singer (and when *not* to ...)! Come out for awesome karaoke Friday nights from 7:30-11pm!! Also!! I had the BEST BLT I have ever had in the longest time! Crisp bacon and lettuce, fried bread in butter - SO GOOD!! Thank you to Dayna who made my BLT. KUDO'S to bartender Janine! She is the BEST!! read more

Great food, friendly staff, amazing ambiance. I always bowl better here. I will be having my next birthday party here! Who wants to come? read more

Bel Mateo Bowl - best bowler ever - Bowling Near Me - San Mateo, California

Went here with kiddos. Went in and realize that I was here years ago for a corporate event. This place has been around for a long time. Staff are all very friendly. Facility has been used but kept clean. None of us played bowling often. We were here for some fun. Kiddos had a good time. There are some silly games available here for little ones creating different avatars by each score. It was super fun. We had a blast. We ordered some large lemonades, pretzel, French Fries, tater tots, and chicken wings. Food was actually decent. Kids enjoyed them. We all had a good time. We will come back later for some more silly games. :) read more

It was our first time bowling at Bel Mateo. We went there for my husband's birthday. The service was excellent, friendly staff & clean rental shoes. We bowled 2 games. The atmosphere was old school bowling. Unfortunately, we didn't realized the bistro hours so we couldn't order any food but we were allowed to bring outside food from nearby Round Table Pizza. Overall we had a great time and we'll be back again to bowl. read more

Bel Mateo Bowl - Bowling Near Me - San Mateo, California

Sooooo happy to see this Bowling Center survive the mess created during Covid. There aren't many people in the Bowling landscape that can provide the excellent service and consistency that Mike Leong and crew provide. It was a bumpy time for this place, and they (thankfully) were able to ride it out and keep this fine establishment in the neighborhood as it has been for over 60 years. A beautiful Bowling Center neat and well-maintained with excellent food given a snack-bar convenience type of setup. I will most likely sob for weeks if this Bowling Center ever closes. It has provided me with many wonderful memories over the last 42 years since my first visit. read more

They have declined me and 2 other people a lane for 1 hour on many different occasions. The staff are not very friendly and the lanes can malfunction if you can even get one. Only time I can consistently get a lane is on the weekends with inflated rates. They also often say come back at 9 and then say there is no lanes when we do come back. Not happy read more

Sadly it's the closest place for us to go bowling... fine for kids and first timers. Definitely needs a facelift given their prices are in line with expensive activities in a trendier setting. Service is good... food and drinks were good. I like that you can personalize whether you want the gutters or not by bowler. Would go more often if it had less of a sticky floor feel to it. read more

Planning another of our twins' birthday party there on 10/21/2023. We've done it over there probably 4 times for their birthday and it is always great. The vibe is pleasant and it is more down to earth than other bowling alley. We've tried PinStriped and our boys still prefer Belmateo Bowl. Looking forward to another fun afternoon. read more

Bel Mateo Bowl is the highlight for spending time with your family. Not only do you spend critical moments laughing with your family but you can also enjoy fun experiences with food (and quite a variety of choices may I add). We only got to talk to the employees a couple of times but every interaction was nice. Especially the cook, they worked very rapid serving good quality whilst having a great attitude. Everything went well, and my family had greats laughs! Personally, we went there for a birthday party and the birthday boy was very pleased! Our laughs prolonged even after our session at 'Bel Mateo Bowls' ended. Great atmosphere and establishment! read more

Classic bowling alley food - pizza, mozzarella sticks, zucchini sticks, etc. Had some issues with our lane that were resolved fairly quick. Bartender was very easy-going! read more

Reserved an hour long slot to play at 930 pm on a Friday with a few of my buddies. It was packed and buzzing with folks having a great time. The music that night was a throwback to the dance hits from the late 00s/early 10s, which somehow helped us get in the zone. Ambience overall definitely had a cosmic feel, which we certainly appreciated. We'd come already having had dinner, but we did enjoy a few beers and they seemed to have a good overall selection. Finally, while there is the $10 extra reservation fee (and that isn't insignificant), it was obviously nice not to have to wait could and probably would have been a long one on a Friday. Overall, we had a great time and would definitely come back.... Though might try to walk in during non-primetime hours. read more

Bel Mateo Bowl - Bowling lanes - Bowling Near Me - San Mateo, California

What I realized is that one of the things that I miss from being in a pandemic was bowling. I told my guy bestie about how I miss bowling, and it's not like I would go bowling often in the past. It was like once or twice a year type of outing; like for a special occasion. So I decided to go bowling with my two guy friends at Bel Mateo Bowl one Sunday night because I saw that they have a Sunday special which includes pizza and a pitcher of soda which was awesome. But unfortunately, you have to reserve ahead of time so they ran out of pizza. The guy at the desk said that they could give me more soda instead in place of the pizza, but that's not good enough. So we opted to do just an hour of bowling instead and split 3 ways which was okay. They have in place plexi glass dividers between each bowling areas to provide more safety precautions which was really good. We didn't try their bar area so can't review the food/drinks. (We ended up getting In-n-Out afterwards lol) A couple times our pins were not cycled correctly, but I understand that's just some technical difficulties. It's a good bowling alley with plenty of parking spaces in their lot plus on the streets as well. read more

BelMateo Bowl is ideal for parties, events or leagues. Great food selection, cozy lounge with a full bar to quench your adult thirst, two modern dart boards, arcade room, pool table and tons of lanes to bowl on. Clean and well-kept. Courteous staff. read more

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Wonderful time bowling at Bel Mateo Bowl tonight. Great music and fun night lights. Super clean and modern facility. Food is decent. This is our favorite bowling alley. read more

The beer was cold and the lanes are straight. We had a great time on a Thursday afternoon. . We will definitely be back.

Nothing worth noting. Like any other bowing alley. Reasonable price. Wish they had food.

The three of us went there during the weekday at about 3:00 and many lanes were available. Ambiance was chill and clean. Only thing was the grill does not open till 5:00, but they allowed us to bring in food and Round Table is just two stores down. read more

weekend morning visit and finding bel mateo bowl completely packed...almost all lanes already reserved, but finding a 30 minute slot to play...all prices includes bowling shoe rentals....prices are quite reasonable at $30/hr 10am to 12pm, $50/hr 12pm to 5pm and $80/hr 5pm to 1am on weekends for up to 6 bowlers...weekdays are mostly $40/hr...friday pricing starts at $40/hr and jumps to $80/hr from 5pm to 1am...all up to 6 bowlers with shoes included....scoring system and screens are all modern...automatic bumpers individualized for each player (children)...ball rolling ramps for little ones...arcade to pass time after...bunch of toy vending machines...a full bar and pizza/food if needed...a good bowling place in the peninsula...just make reservations in advance... read more

Bel Mateo Bowl - modern amenities...automatic individual bumpers for children...all digitized - Bowling Near Me - San Mateo, California